Bond hearings (Jan. 18, 2014)The following individuals appeared in felony bond hearings Friday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear March 3 in Circuit Court. • Dartangnon Marlow Barnes, 39, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (marijuana) and possession of drug paraphernalia — $30,000. Barnes was pulled over Thursday by an Arkansas State Trooper for a tr...

Ohio killer’s execution takes almost 25 minutes LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A condemned man appeared to gasp several times and took an unusually long time to die — more than 20 minutes — in an execution carried out Thursday with a combination of drugs never before tried in the U.S. Dennis McGuire’s attorney Allen Bohnert called the convicted killer’s death “a failed, agonizing experiment” and added: “The people of the state of Ohio should be appalled at what was done here today in their names.”...

2 arrested in burglary at Texarkana shelter TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — Police have arrested two juveniles in connection with the theft of animals and supplies from a Texarkana animal shelter. Police Sgt. Nick Elrod says the two juveniles were arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary, breaking and entering and criminal mischief. Officials say the shelter was broken into Monday night and the suspects were caught on surveillance video. The Texarkana Gazette reported the burglars stole pit ...

Bond Hearings (Jan. 16, 2014)The following appeared in felony bond hearings Wednesday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear March 3 in Circuit Court. • Douglas Berger, 41, theft of property — $5,000. A woman reported in December she had approximately $10,000 in jewelry stolen in the previous months. She told police she suspected Berger may be involved. An investigation found that in October...

People wait for tap water to be cleared in West VirginiaCHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Downtown businesses and restaurants reopened Tuesday following last week’s chemical spill, but many people waited yet another day for officials to tell them their tap water was safe. So far, about 39 percent of West Virginia American Water’s customers have been allowed to use their water again after a chemical spilled into the Elk River on Thursday, state officials said. More than 200 restaurants have reopened where th...

Man fatally shot at Florida theater over texting WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. (AP) — Chad Oulson was described by friends as a man who loved dirt bikes and his baby daughter. Curtis Reeves was a retired Tampa police officer with numerous commendations who liked riding his motorcycle with his wife. The men’s lives collided in a movie theater altercation that left Oulson dead and Reeves in jail. Oulson was texting his daughter’s daycare, friends said, and Reeves got mad. Authorities said Reeves shot an...

How tunnels are built, used along US-Mexico border NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — As border security has tightened, drug cartels have turned to tunneling beneath the ground to avoid detection. Nearly 170 tunnels have been found nationwide since 1990, most along the Arizona and California border with Mexico. The job of searching these networks can be dangerous, so the U.S. Border Patrol is unveiling its latest technology in the underground war — a wireless, camera-equipped robot that can do the job in a...

Vigil draws hundreds after New Mexico shooting ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — A 12-year-old New Mexico boy drew a shotgun from a band-instrument case and shot and wounded two classmates at his middle school Tuesday morning before a teacher talked him into dropping the weapon and he was taken into custody, officials and witnesses said. A boy was critically injured and a girl was in satisfactory condition following the shooting at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell. Gov. Susana Martinez said the studen...

Trumann ex-officer pleads guilty to drug charge HARRISBURG (AP) — A former police detective from the northeast Arkansas city of Trumann has pleaded guilty to a drug charge and acknowledged delivering a controlled substance to his former boss. Erik Willbanks, 34, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraudulent means. A second charge of obtaining a controlled substance by fraudulent means was dismissed, The Jonesboro Sun reported Tuesday. As part of the pl...

Bond hearings (Jan. 14, 2014)The following individual appeared in felony bond hearings Monday at the Pope County Detention Center. His name, age, anticipated charge and bond amount are listed. He is scheduled to appear March 3 in Circuit Court. • Robert Soenksen, 26, second-degree battery — $7,500. Charges were filed against Soenksen in October 2013 following a July 14 incident. According to court documents, a victim told police he and his girlfriend were staying the nigh...

Jail population nearly out of controlWhile many people may believe those who break the law will go to jail, it isn’t always that simple. Pope County Sheriff Aaron DuVall and Jail Administrator Terry Bailey work hard to ensure the smooth operation of the Pope County Detention Center — a job that is often complicated by elements largely beyond their control, such as the jail population. PCDC is built to comfortably hold 166 inmates, 140 males and 26 females. That number, however, h...

Greene County 3-year-old shot, killed FONTAINE (AP) — A 3-year-old boy is dead after being shot in the head by a relative, Greene County Sheriff Dan Langston said late Saturday. The sheriff declined to release the names of the parents but said the toddler's residence was on Greene County Road 336 near the Light-Fontaine-Sedgwick region of Greene County. Langston said a family member discharged a 45-caliber semi-automatic handgun, and the bullet struck the right temple area of the ...

Police search for stolen jewels worth $100K JONESBORO (AP) — Police in Jonesboro are looking for $100,000 worth of jewelry that was taken in a home theft. The owner of the jewelry and precious metals told investigators that the items were taken sometime after Dec. 29. The Jonesboro Sun reported at $5,000 Rolex watch disappeared in November. The woman who owns the property says four people who do housekeeping and perform other duties at the home had access to the house while she was away...

Police identify victim found dead in house fire LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Little Rock police have identified a woman who was found dead in a residence fire, which is being investigated as a crime. Police on Friday said the woman who died was 48-year-old Jan Lowe, who died Tuesday in an apartment near the University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus. Investigators have released few details about the case and have not said what led them to conclude the death was a homicide. Firefighters were summone...

Mueller killer asks for overturn of death sentenceLITTLE ROCK (AP) — A judge is scheduled to hear a request later this month to overturn the federal death sentence handed down to an Oklahoma man convicted of killing a Pope County family in 1996 as part of a conspiracy to overthrow the federal government and create a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. Danny Lee, of Yukon, Okla., was convicted of murder in the aid of racketeering and was sentenced to death for the killings of Pope Cou...

RPD offers fresh start for new yearTo help get 2014 off to a positive start, the Russellville Police Department is offering amnesty on misdemeanor warrants through the end of the month. “What we’re trying to do is give people a fresh start for the new year,” Warrants Officer Aaron Taylor said. People with nonviolent misdemeanor warrants can come to the police department to be served with their warrants and given a court date. Taylor said amnesty is only available to those who v...

High court told death row inmate incompetent LITTLE ROCK (AP) — An attorney for a death row inmate who confessed to the murder and mutilation of a woman at a transient camp told the Arkansas Supreme Court during an appeal hearing on Thursday that her client was mentally unfit to understand court proceedings or help with his defense. Rickey Dale Newman, 56, was convicted of capital murder in 2002 in the slaying of Marie Cholette, 46, near Van Buren in Crawford County. Attorney Julie Brain...

Death sentence upheld in police shooting LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the murder conviction for a man sentenced to death for fatally shooting a police officer during a traffic stop in northeast Arkansas. The court denied a request for a new trial and upheld the death sentence for Jerry Lard, who was convicted in the 2011 shooting death of Trumann police officer Jonathan Schmidt. The court rejected several of Lard's arguments, including his objectio...

Alamo member gets life in sex-transport case FORT SMITH (AP) — A federal prosecutor says a member of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries has been sentenced to life in prison for transporting a minor from Oklahoma to Arkansas to engage in sex. U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge said Douglas James Christopher, 60, of Valparaiso, Ind., was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith. Court records indicate that Christopher had lived at an Alamo compound in Muldrow, Okla. Beginning in 200...